New National Living Wage: who will get the biggest pay rise?

People in Torridge, Devon will be the biggest winners of the new National Living Wage (NLW) coming into force on Friday, according to a report.

One in three (35%) workers in Torridge are set for a pay rise as a result of the NLW, almost double the proportion across Britain (18%).

Under the NLW, all employees aged 25 and over will see their minimum pay rise to £7.20 an hour.

Other NLW hotspots include Rossendale in Lancashire, where 33% of employees are set for a pay rise, Woking in Surrey and Castle Point in Essex where 32% of workers will benefit, the study by The Resolution Foundation think-tank found.

The top ten NLW hotspots also include Oadby and Wigston (Leicestershire), Forest Heath (Suffolk), Mansfield (Derbyshire), West Somerset, Breckland (Norfolk) and Rother in Kent.

However, the analysis found the NLW will have far less impact in London and parts of the South East.

Just 3% of employees in the City of London will see their wages increase this year, 6% in Camden and Tower Hamlets and 7% in Southwark and South Cambridgeshire.

The Foundation said the relative lack of employees affected by the new NLW in some areas reinforces the importance of the actual Living Wage campaign – a voluntary rate that is currently £9.40 an hour in London and £8.25 in the rest of the UK.

Torsten Bell, director of the Resolution Foundation, said: “The National Living Wage is a hugely ambitious policy with the potential to transform Britain’s low pay landscape.‎ Up to a third of workers will get a pay rise in National Living Wage hotspots, ranging from Canvey Island to Eastern Lancashire.

“Britain’s new legal wage floor will be felt throughout the country, but its impact will be bigger in some areas than others. Relatively few employees will benefit in high-paying parts of Britain such as the City of London and Camden, reminding us of the need to see more employers sign up to pay the higher voluntary Living Wage.

“Of course pay rises don’t come free so employers in some sectors and parts of the country will feel the pressure more than others. That’s why it’s vital that businesses and national, regional and local government make the successful implementation of the new legal minimum a priority.”

Of Britain’s big cities, Sheffield is set to be the biggest NLW winner, with 22% of workers set for a pay rise.